Coronavirus Precautions: How to Safely Unpack Your Online Deliveries

According to the National Institutes of Health, the coronavirus can live on cardboard for up to 24 hours and up to 3 days on plastic and stainless steel. But it also lives in airborne particles for up to 3 hours. With the current national predicament, we have to be sure to take all the precautions when bringing packages into our home.

With that in mind, here is how to safely and effectively open up your packages.

– Make sure items are left at the door. A lot of delivery services do this anyway, but it can’t hurt to make sure. When ordering online, write it in the special instructions.

Most top retailers like Amazon and Walmart will have a “Delivery instructions” section on the final checkout page.

– Opening a package while it’s still on the doorstep may prevent the virus from spreading inside the house.

If possible, let the box sit by your door for up to 3 hours so you can at least pass the amount of time that the virus can live in airborne particles from the delivery person. Then:

– Use gloves if possible, and take whatever it is out of the box, wipe it down with disinfectant spray or wipes and get rid of the box immediately after. Then wipe down the surfaces that the items and boxes touched with some more disinfectant spray or wipes.– Finally, when finished, wash your hands for at least 20 seconds.

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